The End of Time
by Goldenfern
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes.  What happens when you make a mistake that haunts you for the rest of your life. Your own son's death, when everyone else see's it as a miracle.  This story is about Dust, an elder prey-hunter from the Tribe of Rushing Waters.
1. Characters Etc

**Healer**

-** Teller of Pointed Stones (Stoneteller).**  
Formerly known as, 'Bird who searches for seed'.  
_Dark gray tabby tom with blue eyes._

**Cave-Guards**

- **Sparrow that soars across Sky**  
_Brown tabby tom with blue eyes _  
- **Rock that falls from heights**  
_Wiry gray tom with wide amber eyes _  
- **Snow that shines in Sun **  
_White she-cat with gray paws and blue eyes _  
- **Wolf that howls at Moon **  
_Big, thick-furred, gray tom with cold amber eyes_  
- **Ivy that grows on Trees **  
_Black and dark gray patched she-cat with green eyes;_ Mentor to Fog  
- **Hawk who flies above Highest Mountain **  
_Golden brown tabby tom with white paws, chest, and tail tip. Has green eyes _  
- **Tree against Starlit Sky **  
_Long-furred black and white tom with very pale green eyes;_ Mentor to Leaf  
- **Splash of Dropping Pebble **  
_White tom with black stripes_  
- **Cloud that Hides Sun**  
_A light ginger she-cat with smoldering blue, white ears, tail, chest, paws, and muzzle._  
- **Jay that Soars Skies **  
_Gray tom with blue eyes _  
- **Stone that Rolls Down Hill **  
_Very dark gray tom with yellow eyes_

**Prey Hunters**

- **Dust that flies along Wind **  
_Very light ginger she-cat with one amber and green eye _  
- **Star that guides the Wind**  
_Beautiful golden she-cat with bright blue eyes _  
- **Frost that forms on smooth Stones **  
_Sleek white she-cat with green eyes; Mentor to Oak _  
- **Sharp Rocks falling down Mountain**  
_A rusty red/orange tom with black paws and green eyes_  
- **Dream that lights Fires **  
_A black tom with blue spots and gold eyes;_ Mentor to Fish  
- **Fern that waves by Sea **  
_White she-cat with gray and black stripes _  
- **Hawk who flies above highest Mountain **  
_Golden brown tabby tom with white paws, chest, and tail tip. Has green eyes_  
-** Feather that falls in Twilight **  
_Black she-cat with yellow eyes _  
- **Swan who glides across Blue Waters **  
_Beautiful blue-gray she-cat with silver tinged fur, white paws, tail tip, and chest. Has aqua blue eyes._  
-** Crow that caws in Night **  
_Black tom with green eyes._  
- **Mossy Stone by Stream **  
_Dark tabby she-cat with white tail-tip and green eyes_

**Kit-Mothers**

- **Dawn that opens clearly **  
_Silver-white she-cat with green eyes._  
- **Bubble floating across Breeze**  
_Dark gray she-cat with silver spots and blue eyes._

**To-Bes**

- **Oak with frosty Leaves **  
_Brown tabby she-cat with green eyes _  
- **Fish that jumps from Water **  
_Small silver tabby tom with blue eyes_  
- **Fog that Winds around River Rocks **  
_Pale gray tom with darker stripes and very light green eyes _  
- **Leaf that falls from Tree **  
_Small calico she-cat with green eyes_

**Elders**

- **Shadow of howling Storm **  
_Dark gray tom with gray eyes _  
- **Sound of Passing Creek **  
_Pale yellow tabby she-cat with blue eyes_

* * *

**Cave of Rushing Water**  
The Cave of Rushing Water is the cave in which the Tribe of Rushing Water lives. Within this cave is a tunnel that leads to the Cave of Pointed Stones. The cave has enough space for the Tribe to sleep, along with many other cats. There are two separate smaller caves in which the kit-mothers and to-bes shelter. The leader of the Tribe of Rushing Water very seldom leaves this cave.

**Cave of Pointed Stones**  
The Cave of the Pointed Stones is where the healer/leader of the Tribe of Rushing Water, Stoneteller, communicates with their warrior ancestors, The Tribe of Endless Hunting. Upon entering the Cave of Rushing Water, one of two paths on either side of the cave leads to the Cave of the Pointed Stones. In this cave there are many "pointed stones" on the floor and ceiling (stalagmites/stalactites). There also are many puddles of water, along with one big puddle, behind which the healer sits. This is where he communicates with the Tribe of Endless Hunting. The Cave of Pointed Stones is similar to the Moonstone and the Moonpool, being a location where one could talk to one's ancestors.

**The Tree Rock**  
The Tree Rock is a tree that juts out over big rocks. The roots of the tree are like giant claws. It is also a place where queens are known to give birth. Some mothers protect their young in this claw-shaped rock from many Different dangers, such as if a wolf were to attack. The rock was carved from wind and water that flowed through the area. When the cats awoke one morning they found it there. The tree has apparently been there for decades and will hopefully remain longer.

**Time of Freed Water**  
New-Leaf, also known as spring.

**Time of Frozen Water**  
Leaf-Bare, also known as winter

**Time of Restless Sun**  
Green-Leaf, also known as summer

**Time of Falling Leaves**  
Leaf-Fall, Also known as autumn


	2. Prologue

_'They say that it is alright. I had no means. It was not my fault, Perhaps that it was even for the best. So tell me; Please explain why I always hear his screams in my dreams. Why I see his face around every corner. I've prayed to the Tribe of Endless hunting for years now that he may forgive me. Even now I have never been given an answer._  
_Although it was long ago, back when I was young and foolish, I remember that night perfectly.'_

"Dust!" he shouted, his voice barely a whisper reaching her ears.

A sandy she-cat lifted her head, trying to look up at him through the wind and the rain. There was a terrible storm that night, one that would mark as one of the worst Times of Freed Water in all of the tribe's history. The cats kept their foot on the roots of the trees as streams of mud and water rushed between the rocks and down the mountainside. Even within the cave the weather had forced the tribe members to move to higher ground.

"Come quick, Dust!" the husky Tom repeated her name. "I've found the kits!"

A cold shock ran through her body. She saw clearly now. Pointing with his paw he led her eyes to a small cliff edge. Two small bodies huddled close together against a stone, they were clinging to the earth for their dear lives.  
"Go, Wolf!" she wailed and jumped to the nearest slab of granite, slowly making her way up the cliff. If he replied, she didn't hear.

One jump to the next boulder, run across the oaks roots. There was a time where she slipped and lost her footing, taking a bit of energy to recover. One long leap after another and she felt as if she were going nowhere. It wasn't long until the kit-mother was breathing heavily, nature determined to wear her out.

Dust looked up again, to see how far away she was from them, when a strong gust of wind came. In perfect harmony a sound reached her ears. The two wails of her sons, a familiar ginger red body slid slightly over the edge, his foot touching nothing but air.

"I can't go anymore!" Wolf growled across the land, having reached a dead end.

A serge of panic struck through her, a cold strike of ice and the fury of a beating fire. The light ginger felt new power within her body and she sprinted across the land, past trees and over the slides. Cats came down from the skies to help carry her, the earth old longing to protect her children forbid her from stopping. She didn't slip. She didn't flinch.  
It was soon that she reached her destination.

Her two sons; Stone hanging on to Sunset while he dangled over the edge, desprately trying to claw his way back up to safety.

A small cry rang out, "I can't hold on to him!"

She didn't have a moment to think, her body pushed itself forward and into the air, acting on pure instincts. Flying over, Dust bit the scruff of Stone, about to swipe her paw down and grab the other when the worst came.

A flash of lightning came down before them, blinding the she-cat. She drew back, letting lose of all grip and crying out. She saw nothing but the brightest white light. Dust threw herself to the ground, trying to recover, when her nightmare reached her for the first time.

The heart wrecking sound of Sunset's wails, his scream the loudest echo. She stood up and flew her eyes open, they were bloodshot and traces of blood trickled out. There, Stone lay on the ground, beaten down from the rain and dropped by his mother. Sunset was nowhere to be found.

"No..." Dust muttered, then cried: "No, no, NOO!" Her screams reached beyond the mountains, past the lake and the deepest gorges.

Wolf came not a few moments later, all but too soon.

Eventually, the storm passed, but it still clouds Dust's mind.

It will until the End of Time.


End file.
